War

Caught in a maelstrom of emotions
Held back by taut words
In the familiar company
Of a familiar stranger
I see beads of water drip
Down the sides of our glass
Like reason sliding off words
Which have tasted blood.

And faces contort in ways
Sending shivers down my spine
Because here comes the killing blow
The sweeping gesture of finality
Woven using judgemental syllables
With strings of papercuts down
Our skin while ink marks of dignity
Hang by the skin of our teeth.

We fight proxy wars unbeknownst
To each other in our minds and hearts
Because we’ll be okay that way won’t we
We can be strangers that way again.